Skaven
' The Skaven' are a race of humanoid rat-men, who inhabit the caves, tunnels, mines, and sewers of the Earth. They control a vast Under Empire which reaches from the western half of the Earth to the Eastern coast of Nippon. The god of the Skaven is the Horned Rat, whose high priests form the Council of Thirteen. The direct agents of the Council are an order called the Grey Seers. Most of Skaven society is organised into innumerable clans, all of which are ruled by the Council. The four Great clans mercilessly dominate the weaker Warlord clans. The Skaven are a race that can compete with the humans, and Orcs for total numbers and yet their excistence is known by very few humans. This is a trait that they are quite fond of, and it is a great pain that the Dwarves are being slowly destroyed by a race that the vast majority of humans have no idea even exists. The Skaven would be created by Fronos as he went about his tasks of organizing the small things of the world. All of his care and devotion went into their creation, and at first they worked heavily alongside him moving with him causing Fronos to constantly look massive as he was surrounded by a mass of Skaven. The Skaven were primarily founded within the forests of eastern Europe, and worked heavily alongside the Woses of whom were one of the only race that ever treated Fronos and the Skaven with respect. The Skaven were devastated during the Eternity War leaving them without any home in Europe, and the emotionally devastated Fronos who had fought with the forces of the Titans during the Eternity War would abandon the Titans during the Titan Civil War turning himself into a great Rat and leading the Skaven to the Italian Alps where he plans to destroy Zeus's first human city in the form of Kavzar. Led by Fronos the Skaven overwhelm the outer Thaigs of the Empire of Ital and begin to spread throughout much of the eastern section of the Italian Alps where they surround the city of Kavzar, and this continues for decades as the humans and Dwarves of this area remain completely unaware of their growth. Fronos enacting his plan of destruction would menipulate the humans of Kavzar into constructing a mighty tower celebrating their golden age, and then watched and moulded his skaven for the near four decades that the construction went on for until finally as the tower reached so high the humans couldn't build higher he came to them and offered help in the guise of an old man, and they accepted allowing him to turn the tower into a living symbol of the Skaven. Physiology Skaven are usually around four to five feet tall when they stand up straight, although the largest can reach six feet tall. Fur covers their bodies except for their ears, muzzles, hands and fleshy rat tails. Fur colour indicates a Skaven's role in society. Most Skaven are brown or piebald. White or grey is rare and indicates leadership, intelligence and especially sorcerous ability. Those with black or dark brown fur tend to be the largest and the colour is considered the mark of a born killer, and most dark furred Skaven become elite warriors or assassins. Skaven are twitchy, agitated creatures. Their metabolism allows them to burn energy at an incredible rate, boosting their agility and speed to unnatural levels. This effect also gives them an enormous hunger, which after heavy exertion can be so bad that the Skaven visibly weakens and dies. As a result the Skaven will feast on the dead of either side after a battle. Female Skaven are rare and, at most, semi-intelligent but are capable of giving birth to huge litters very frequently. This means that the Skaven are probably the most numerous of all races. History Creation of the Skaven The Skaven would be created by Fronos as he went about his tasks of organizing the small things of the world. All of his care and devotion went into their creation, and at first they worked heavily alongside him moving with him causing Fronos to constantly look massive as he was surrounded by a mass of Skaven. The Skaven were primarily founded within the forests of eastern Europe, and worked heavily alongside the Woses of whom were one of the only race that ever treated Fronos and the Skaven with respect. Post Eternity War The Skaven were devastated during the Eternity War leaving them without any home in Europe, and the emotionally devastated Fronos who had fought with the forces of the Titans during the Eternity War would abandon the Titans during the Titan Civil War turning himself into a great Rat and leading the Skaven to the Italian Alps where he plans to destroy Zeus's first human city in the form of Kavzar. Invasion of the Alps Led by Fronos the Skaven overwhelm the outer Thaigs of the Empire of Ital and begin to spread throughout much of the eastern section of the Italian Alps where they surround the city of Kavzar, and this continues for decades as the humans and Dwarves of this area remain completely unaware of their growth. Fronos enacting his plan of destruction would menipulate the humans of Kavzar into constructing a mighty tower celebrating their golden age, and then watched and moulded his skaven for the near four decades that the construction went on for until finally as the tower reached so high the humans couldn't build higher he came to them and offered help in the guise of an old man, and they accepted allowing him to turn the tower into a living symbol of the Skaven. Summoning Great Magi he caused constant rain in the Valley of Kavzar causing great flooding leading to those outside the city to retreat into the city, and also causing the Dwarves and humans to argue eventually leading to the Dwarves of Karaz-D-Izdark to barr there gates which was just what Fronos wanted leaving them isolated and open for attack. Fall of Karaz-D-Izdark Fall of Kavzar Stories told by fire Main Article : Birth of the Skaven Little is known about the origins of the Skaven race by the other races of the world, and thus a single story has become the prevailing idea of where they were born. The people of Europe and the world believe that is probable that they were created in the ancient city of Kavzar by a mysterious stranger who completed the unfinished temple of the gods and hung a great horned bell from the top of the tower. As the bell rang for the thirteenth time lightning lit up the sky and dark storm clouds gathered. As the weeks went on the rain never stopped and the vermin of the city grew bigger and bolder until they overwhelmed the inhabitants of the city. The Story of the fall of Kavzar is legendary in the folklore of Estalia for the same reasons as it is with the Skaven. The Under Empire Over the next two hundred and eighty years or so the newly born Skaven race grew rapidly. There was pressure to expand the tunnels under the city, as the surface world was too dangerous for the Skaven. Eventually they began work on a huge device that they thought would open up large rifts beneath the ground for the Skaven to inhabit. Unfortunately for them the great warpstone-powered machine failed catastrophically - releasing huge waves of magical energy across the globe. War with the Dwarves As the Skaven rebuilt themselves far away from prying eyes they begin to encroach on the mines of the Dwarves. At this point the Dwarves were beyond their strength so the Skaven simply burrowed into their holds, and built there strength in response to some future moment where they could strike. It was the War of Vengeance, and the depletetion of the Dwarven armies that finally delivered this moment, and the Skaven begin instigating the migration of large numbers of Goblins into the areas of Dwarven Holds in an attempt to further weaken the Dwarven Empire of Karak Ankor. Organisation Further information: Great clan , and Warlord clan Skaven society is divided into thousands of different clans, all of which are subject to the authority of the Council. There are four powerful clans, known as the Great clans, which dominate the countless weaker Warlord clans. The Great clans are highly specialised and have become an established part of the greater hierarchy of Skavendom. The Warlord clans, innumerable and expendable, also have a role in the greater scheme of things. The Clanrats of the Warlord clans make up most of the warriors in the armies of the Skaven, with the Great Clans lending their specialised support. Warlord clans have a definite hierarchy, although the positions are in no way fixed. Skaven advance as far as their cunning, ruthlessness, treachery, ambition and strength take them. Skaven within the Clan constantly struggle to ascend as well as to defend their positions from would-be usurpers. At the very peak of each Clan is the Warlord. In some of the larger clans there will then be a second rank of lesser Warlords. The next level is formed by the Chieftains, followed by a warrior class composed of Clanrats and the elite Stormvermin. At the very bottom of Skaven society are the teeming masses of the Skavenslaves. Society "Skaven society is a tyranny moderated by assassination." -Unknown Skaven Slave Skaven society is a lawless world where the strongest and most cunning rise to the top, while the weakest are eaten or enslaved. Every Skaven is constantly fighting for supremacy, whether to advance, or to defend his position from would-be usurpers. Fights are usually not to the death, but any Skaven who is maimed will quickly be dispatched by the victor. Treachery is not seen as dishonourable in any way, indeed it is the traditional way of advancing in Skaven society. The most important material used by the Skaven is warpstone. It is used as an ingredient in magic, technology, mutation, metallurgy, poisons and even their currency. Religion Main Article : Horned Rat The god of the Skaven is the Horned Rat. Its sacred number is thirteen, and so thirteen is an important number is Skaven society. For example, there are 169 Grey Seers (13 × 13). Vermin Lords are Daemons of the Horned Rat, and can be summoned by a Grey Seer. This is often used as a threat to unruly Warlords, although no Grey Seer would dare to summon a Vermin Lord unless they absolutely had to. The Horned Rat is the god of the Skaven race, and is worshiped by all of the many clans. It is often depicted as a large Skaven with one or two sets of horns on its head. Because of the large amount of Warpstone present in Skaven territories, and the fact that the rat-men themselves are mutants, much discussion has been made as to if the Horned Rat is actually a god of Chaos. Technology Skaven technology is heavily warpstone-based. Virtually everything they create has at least a tiny piece of warpstone in to increase its potency and deadliness. The majority of Skaven weapons are developed by Clan Skryre. The Warlock Engineers of Clan Skryre create infernal engines of destruction, and then bind magically energy to the machine to increase its potency and destructiveness. Some of the most feared and deadly weapons created by Clan Skryre are the Warp-lightning Cannon and the Warplock Jezzails. The Skaven of Clan Moulder are expert at breeding and mutating other living beings to create the perfect killing creature. Their Master Moulders create unnatural creatures to sell to other Clans. Some of the more infamous creations of Clan Moulder are the Hell Pit Abomination and the hulking Rat Ogres. Category:Races Category:The Under Empire Category:Race